How to Dance to Drums With Denise Kayan & Rob Arcari

Did you ever see a video of some Rainha de Bateria slaying in front of the drums, hitting every beat? These are the techniques to get you there. 

This musicality workshop is designed to teach dancers to understand both how the drums function in an Escola de Samba, as well as how to move to them. The result will inform your dancing to allow you to be more synchronised, and to anticipate what the music will do ahead of time.

Taught by the leaders of Melbourne’s Bloco 3K and accompanied by live drums, this workshop will be beneficial for sambistas of all levels.

Bring water, comfortable clothes & runners.

Mestre Rob has been spearheading the Melbourne Samba scene for the last 10 years. He’s mestre de bateria of Bloco 3K (Melbourne) and Unidos da Cacatua (Aus/NZ).

For the past 7 years he’s been making an annual pilgrimage to Rio where he parades playing with numerous baterias. A regular ritmista with Imperatriz Leopoldinense and Acadêmicos da Rocinha he’s also paraded with Paraiso da Tuiuti, Império da Tijuca & Estacio de Sá amongst many other schools.

Locally Denise is Rainha de Bateria and dance coordinator for Bloco 3K as well as Director of Dance for Unidos da Cacatua. She’s well known in Rio where she is a passista with Vila Isabel since 2020, and was previously a passista with Mocidade from 2017 to 2019.

Over the years she has held the title of Rainha da Escola and Princesa da Bateria at Unidos da Ponte, as well as holding various Musa positions at numerous schools. She’s no stranger to holding her own in front of a bateria.